Tourism Minister sees huge tourism potential through food storytelling to capture Chinese visitors

Tiong (centre) during a meeting with the Tuniu team in Shanghai, China on May 28, 2026.

By DayakDaily

KUCHING, May 28: Malaysia has tremendous potential to attract more Chinese tourists by telling its food story more effectively through live cooking streams, special content segments and food-themed promotions across cities in China.

Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Dato Sri Tiong King Sing said food experiences have become one of the strongest motivators influencing travellers’ decisions, and Malaysia could leverage its rich culinary diversity to encourage more visitors from China to choose the country as their next travel destination.

“There is tremendous potential for Malaysia to tell its food story more effectively so that more people begin to think, ‘I need to visit Malaysia to experience this for myself,’” he said in a post shared on his social media today, following a meeting with representatives from Tuniu during his working visit to Shanghai, China.

Tuniu is one of China’s leading online travel agencies offering tour packages, flight bookings and hotel reservations to millions of users nationwide.

According to Tiong, discussions with the platform focused on strengthening collaboration to tap into China’s massive outbound tourism market and position Malaysia more prominently among Chinese travellers.

He said the Tuniu team acknowledged that Malaysia possesses many of the qualities Chinese tourists seek, including natural attractions, cultural diversity, local cuisine and authentic daily life experiences.

However, he noted that many travellers in China still lacked a deeper understanding of Malaysia, making stronger and more consistent exposure necessary.

“Malaysia actually has everything travellers are looking for, but many people in China still do not know enough about the country. This is why continuous exposure and stronger promotional efforts are important,” he said.

Over the past year, Tourism Malaysia and Tuniu have collaborated on several initiatives, including familiarisation trips involving influencers, livestreaming sessions, online content campaigns and physical promotional events.
Tiong said the response to these initiatives had been encouraging, prompting both parties to explore more content-driven marketing approaches moving forward.

Among the strategies discussed were influencer livestreams, on-location filming, short-form videos and themed promotional campaigns aimed at showcasing authentic Malaysian experiences directly to Chinese audiences.

The minister also said both parties discussed ways to simplify travel bookings to Malaysia through the Tuniu platform by strengthening Malaysia’s dedicated section on the platform, expanding promotional campaigns and offering curated travel packages combining flights with specially designed tourism products.

“I have asked Tourism Malaysia to continue working closely with the Tuniu team to translate these ideas into more concrete programmes so that more visitors in China can discover the diversity, warmth, and charm of everyday life in Malaysia,” he added. — DayakDaily